Arkansas State Fair 2010

We went to the fair on Sunday so that Norah could see all of the animals. This was a cute little setup where the ducks waddled up this side then ate some food from the little trough at the top before sliding down the other side, then swimming back around to do it all again.

As soon as Norah saw the cow she started doing the sign and making moooooing noises. She was really excited to see them eating.

PIGLETS! Wilbur......Babe........Piglet.......what other famous pigs are there?

These sheep were so pretty. Their coats looked like a smokey grey velvet. The black pantyhose aren't bad either.

This must be one of those rare long distance bike riding sheep. He has on his Lance Armstrong approved aerodynamic lycra riding suit.

You lookin' at me?......You lookin' at ME! ? Why, yes we are. You have such cute little ears Mr. Bunny.

Norah hamming it up for the camera.

Crocheted yellow roses. WOW! I consider it a success if I can cut paper in a straight line. Someone has some serious talent.

Ok, I know what this is. Still I find it a little creepy. Just my opinion.

Norah doing her best Vanna White to show off the quilts hanging from the ceiling.

Your Welcome and yes we will drive safely.

(Few little side notes: It was really hot Sunday. None of us do well with hot, super bright weather. One of the parking staff in our area was wigged out of his gourd. I believe the warning Glen gave me was ..."Crackhead at 3 o'clock." Nice! We think we saw Snookie! Even though we wouldn't be caught dead watching Jersey Shore you can't help but know who she is. If you have managed not to know who she is then I envy you. We ran into 3 or 4 people that signed to Norah .... LOVE IT! If you are out in public and know how to sign PLEASE do it. Even if you only know a few words. It means so much to Norah and us and others that sign. )

Sorry PETA!

Found this in the living room. The first thing that ran through my mind was...."That giraffe must have been askin' for it." Norah REALLY likes to tie things up. Like it's an obsession.

NAPTIME!

Norah DOES NOT sleep! She goes from before dawn till around 11 at night on a normal day. She does not sit quietly, she does not snooze on the couch. She goes full tilt until she face plants in the bed. Sometimes we are able to stay up that long, most times not. The photots above show what happens if you try and take a nap at our house. Luckily it wasn't fingernail polish or markers this time. We have gotten wise to her and removed all of that from our bedroom. But STICKERS! Really? I thought that Boo didn't sleep. HA! He had nothing on Norah.

New bike and more

I am very lucky to work closely with some great people. Marlon (one of the scrub nurses on our team) gave Norah his daughters bike with training wheels that she had outgrown and even threw in a helmet. We cut away some of the foam on the inside so that Norah could wear the helmet over her cochlears and headed for the park. She has riden the bike a couple of times at the house but she REALLY enjoyed being at the park and having all that room. There was alot of swerving off the path and a whole lot of hitting the breaks but she did very well and had a blast.

Fun with pipe cleaners and boxes.

Norah all dressed up for gymnastics. Norah's Grandma and Grandpa pay for her to attend gymnastics. We thought for a while that we were going to have to get Norah some physical therapy. She was wobbly and delayed in her ability to balance, kick, ect. Gymnastics has been just the ticket. She loves going. Has a couple of little friends that she gets to see every week and her coordination and balance have improved to the point that she is almost caught up with her age group. Her Grandparents have given her a gift that will last her whole life.

There is also some BIG news about BOO coming soon!

To Stinkin' Cute

This is the same girl who would have absolutely NOTHING to do with books a year and a half ago.

Norah's new do

Glen took Norah to get her haircut. There were still areas of her hair growing out from having to have parts of her head shaved from her CI surgeries and she has been really giving us a run for our money when we wash or try to fix her hair. So it was off to see Shelia, our long time friend and beautician.

This haircut just makes Norah even more cute! The only problem is I think it may have made her even sassier.

Preschool then and now and a milestone

Last years first day of school picture.

This years first day of preschool picture. You will notice that she is all bundled up nice and warm EXCEPT for her beloved flip flops. We will actually have to hide them before she will even consider wearing closed toed shoes, let alone socks.
It looks like no lips will be required for this first day back to preschool. Good thing Norah left hers in the house.

Today is also our 20th wedding anniversary.

I can honestly say that I do not know what I would do without Glen. He has been my best friend, keeper of my secrets, lover, sounding board, voice of reason, and biggest cheerleader for 2 decades now. He knows what I'm thinking alot of times just by the look on my face. As long as I have him with me any hurdles thrown our way can be dealt with, usually with sarcasm and laughter. He is an excellent Daddy! He loves my family. He reminds me alot of my Grandfathers (both of them...Henry and Willard) and my Dad (Michael). I have been very fortunate to have a lot of good men in my life to model how a husband should act. Glen is just that....a good man... and I am very fortunate to be married to him. Happy Anniversary Honey.

(Norah ate all his truffles that I bought him for today.) Ha!

(See, that right there. Above. Me finding it hilarious that Norah ate all his truffles. I realize that it's kind of mean. Glen said that he dosen't love me in spite of that stuff but because of it. It's like we were made for each other!)

Big Question

Okay. Obviously if you are here you have some idea of what Norah's background is and what we are trying to do as far as giving her a chance to learn to speak. So.....If location inside the U.S. was not an issue where would the absolute BEST oral/deaf school be? Where would give Norah her best chance of speaking?

A is for Apple, B is for Boo, J is for Jess

"A is for Apple."

This has to be the universally recognized face for homework.

Norah is hard at work tracing her A's. We are trying to introduce letter recognition and showing her that it means the same as the sign for A.
"A is also for Alligator."

There have been more crafts going on around the house. I have been looking up some new ones online recently. The weather will turn cold on a dime here. We usually go from having the air conditioner on to having the heat on within a week or two of each other. Plus Fall just seems to be a good time to do crafts.

The owl is another project from a Halloween craft book that I found at a garage sale.

Jess and Boo stopped by last night to borrow the carpet cleaner and weed eater. Norah LOVES to play with Jess.

Boo is working on putting up a blog of his own and apparently cleaning carpets and weedeating at my brother's house.

Halloween in September

We have started the Halloween crafts early around here. This is supposed to be a skeleton taking his skeleton cat for a walk. They are made out of q-tips and some foam.
The pumpkin is one that Norah HAD to have! It started out with some eyes and a mouth and then the allure of the magic marker just over took Norah and she went wild.

School starts on the 15th for Norah. She will be attending the preschool program at UALR that is run by the speech pathology department at the college. This is the same program that she was in for a while last school year. We are so glad that she is able to attend again this year. We know that she will make big strides in her language development in this program.