Jezreel Update

Many of you enjoy keeping up with Jez and I have been so terrible about e-mailing that I am creating this blog in an effort to do a better job. She is doing quite well our second year here in Franklin. I am homeschooling her this year and, although it's quite challenging for all of us, we feel that we're already starting to see the blessing. It seems like the focus on learning to read, which she really likes, is helping her accss her speech more. She has started horseback riding therapy also and really seems to be enjoying it now.
A couple months ago, she was finally able to somplete a full hearing test for the first time and we found out that she is significantly hearing impaired in her right ear due to a hole cause by all her ear infections. They want to operate to close the hole and maybe do another procedure, so that is scheduled for next month. We are praying for healing until then.
She had a bad fall down the stairs a few weeks ago and smashed in her front teeth. (One is already missing from a fall in Thailand!) The dentist took pictures of her messed up mouth and said we needed to remove two teeth-which meant more sedation. The cardiologist vetoed that (we were so glad ), due to her heart condition and the risks involved with sedation. So we prayed and went back a couple weeks later. The dentist took another picture and showed me the two side by side on his computer and he said her teeth actually moved back in to place!
She's had some bad asthma this allergy season, so we've let her skip on the morning jogs, and she's not too disappointed about that!
All in all, she's doing great. Even though the speech is very slow, we are understanding apraxia more and learning how to push through. She's a bubbly, outgoing little girl with a lot to say and a lot going on inside. Keep praying for her. I will post again when we get back from the Mayo Clinic and we'll write about our summer happennings and also, I hope to get some of my artwork posted on here as well.

On Our Way

Tomorrow Jez and I are on our way to Rochester, MN to go to the Mayo Clinic there. They have a specialist in CAS(Childhood Apraxia of Speech) that we will see in hope of getting some more accurate information and a treatment plan for Jez's speech. We are going to stay with our old teammates from Thailand, the Countrymans and can't wait for that! They have adopted a little girl from China also, so we are looking forward to all the introductions and spending some time together.