WOW!!!

That is all I can think of when I see how long it has been since I blogged last. I have been so busy with four kids, work, sports, doctors, etc that time has just passed by!!! So much has changed for us in the past six months it is just unbelievable!!!

The end of July we made the very hard decision to go ahead and put tubes in Donato's ears. He pulled though great but we just found out we now have to get them taken out. He did really good once the weather stayed warm and we thought that was the end of the ear infections. Well, the weather started to get cold and stay cold for several days at a time and in a month Donato has had two ear infections and his left ear drum burst. So we now are have go back and get the tubes taken out and have his hearing tested every few months to watch for signs of hearing loss. It will be a year in a few days (he was born Jan. 27, 2010) and since then Donato has had nine ear infections. Poor Guy I feel so bad for him at times but he seems happy and life goes on for all of us!!!

We have also learned that Gabriele might have a hearing loss to the point that he will have to wear hearing aids. We have been on this up and down roller coaster ride for many months and have found that he has what they call "borderline normal" hearing in the right ear and they are not sure the extent of the hearing loss in the left ear yet. We have to go back for more testing in March and every six months he has to have a hearing test done to make sure the right ear does'ot get worst. He is in speech once a week and we have changed many things at home as well. He actually talks all the time now and in a a month has gone from saying only a few words to saying at least a hundred words. Some times it is hard to understand him because everything is very monotoned but all in all it is WONDERFUL to hear him talk. He said Mommy and Daddy for the first time two weeks ago, he is almost three (March 19,2008) and to hear him talk is just amazing!!!

Isabella started kindergarten this year and at first it was a rough go at it. We learned that she has some learning difficulties and it was a HUGE hurdle to over come at first. It took a lot of work on every ones part to get her to were she is today. She is doing so much better now and actually likes to learn and is starting to read simple two and three letter words, can do simple addition, and can actually write her name with out making everything look like a circle with a line through it. She is in OT twice a week and my mother (her teacher) and Ms. Davis (the OT specialist) are always one the same page and working towards the same goals. I make sure I not only do all her homework with her, but we go over all the work she did in school, and we work in different work books that I have gotten for her. I am really proud of the progress she has made and am confident that with hard work and determination she will and can be anything she wants to be.

Emanuel is now in the fifth grade and is very much into basketball and SWIMMING!!!! He loves to swim more then any other sport, and is going to start, Houston Swim Club, in two weeks to help him refine his stroke and get him up to par so he can try out for FCCA, a USA swim team. He got his first cell phone a little over a week ago and I have never seen some one text so much in my life. He will text HI just so he can text some one, I am just glad we have unlimited text so he can't run my bill up. He has matured a lot since the summer, he actually keeps his room clean, he is a HUGE help around the house with his siblings, he can cook on the stove and bake in the oven now. I can't believe he is going to be eleven in a few month (March 19,2000).

We have our good days and our bad days but all in all we are doing good as a family. We have learned to live without and to appreciate the the little things now. I actually can stay home for the whole weekend now and it won't bother me, before I felt like I was going to go crazy if I had to stay home. The kids are now all old enough that they can play together and have fun, but have there little tiffs too. They are each others play mates and really do enjoy playing with each other.

I am going to try to keep up with my blogging even if I can only do it once a month it is better then not doing it at all.

TILL NEXT TIME