Soda's Birth

***Yes, I do realize I'm posting this when my son is over 7 months old. Let's just say that the combination of adjusting to two kids and my discovery of Facebook both contributed to blogging becoming less of a priority. But I'm determined to get back into it...one post at a time!



What a different birth story we had for our Soda boy. With Evie, we had planned on having a totally unmedicated birth. My water broke at 2 in the morning and I labored without meds for 9 1/2 hours but didn't progress. She was born via c-section. With Soda, we had a planned c-section, so I was able to get up early, put my make-up on, etc. I still don't *like* c-sections. I don't have issues with people having them, but I don't like having my arms out to my sides like I'm being crucified and I don't like my body's response to the epidural (terrible shakes and shivers!). That said, the experience was still wonderful. I remember thinking it was taking a long time, but Richard said it wasn't long at all. I could feel the doctor tugging to get Soda out (He later said he had to work pretty hard to get that big boy out of there!). It was wonderful hearing his strong cry and I couldn't believe it when they told me how big he was: 9 pounds, 1 1/2 ounces! Imagine if he'd been born at 40 weeks instead of 38! We named him Creed Coffman. Creed, in hopes that he would believe and trust in the word of God...

creed

Pronunciation: \ˈkrēd\

1 : a brief authoritative formula of religious belief 2 : a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle

In our wedding, during Communion we had our friends sing and play the song "Creed" by Rich Mullins so that made the name special as well. They did such an amazing job! They even played the drums! I've yet to see another wedding with drums...we thought that was kinda fun!

"Coffman" is in honor of my grandmother and grandfather, a wonderful example of a godly Christian couple. I wish Granddaddy could have met Evie and Creed! He would have loved them both so much!

Evie's New Developments

We are still in the midst of our battle with the insurance company to get Evie all the therapy she needs. First appeal was denied, but we are trying for a grant and also looking carefully at our plan's wording because their reason for denial doesn't seem valid...We'll see. It's a race because we only have one month (or 2 months, depending on what part of the document you look at, so I'm going with the earlier) to do a second appeal. What timing, with a baby due in less than a month!!

Regardless, we are THRILLED with the therapy Evie is receiving now! We switched her from state-run agency to private therapy--just one of the many reasons I am not on board for Obama's Health Care plan--As the parent of a "special needs" child, you really appreciate the options you have and the efficiency of NON-government run agencies!!!!!! Don't get me started!

ANYWAY...Evie is progressing so nicely in so many areas. I firmly believe that this is due to: higher quality therapy in which the therapists: have clear, measurable goals with time-frames, do therapeutic activies which even a non-therapist like me can clearly see are related to the goals they have laid out for Evie, give "homework" to the parents which they first demonstrate for you instead of just mentioning it at the last minute after a therapy session...these include stretches, oral motor exercises, gross motor exercises, etc. I loooooove this new place!!

Here are some of the specific developments I've seen in Evie since beginning therapy a couple of months ago at this new spot:

*Attempting to jump

*Going up and down stairs with a handrail

*Going up and down one step, independently

*Using her left hand much more frequently, albeit awkwardly

*Demonstrating a desire to do activities independently (I think this is VERY important in order for her to have success, even though it can be frustrating at times)

*Climbing onto furniture (Just a week ago I had to help her onto all furniture--this is our newest development and it is SO nice to have her be able to climb into the glider or couch and read books all by herself--she loves it!)

*Climbing into her carseat--this is a s-l-o-w process but she is making good progress. I'm hoping she'll be able to do this more quickly by the time Soda is born. Our next step will be to teach her to buckle herself in, but fine motor continues to be a huge challenge, especially when she needs to use both hands for tasks.

*Reaching both hands over her head

*Kicking a ball

*Throwing/catching a ball--the kicking/catching/throwing are all still very much in the learning stages, but I am seeing definite improvement and now *I* know how to help her at home which is huge!

*Attempting many new sounds, especially vowel sounds

*Frustration when we don't understand what she is saying--this is actually a good thing because before there would be such lag time between new words that we would easily know what each of her words was (even if no one else did). Now that she has the confidence to try new words, we don't always know what she's saying, but hey, I'll take it!!

*Slowly improving in making an O-shape with her mouth--this has always been a struggle. When she blows she flattens her mouth into a "flat fish" type shape instead of the rounded O, so it's similar to when you try to blow your bangs out of your eyes, rather than the appropriate shape for blowing out a candle.

We are SO thankful for these wonderful therapists and the progress that we have seen!! We appreciate your continued prayers that we would be able to continue with this therapy. At this point, if my calculations are correct, we should be able to continue into October. If we qualify for the grant I think that would buy us a few more months of therapy, but at a cost of $30 a session (but hey, that's much better than $90 a session!). During open-enrollment you can bet we will be looking over the available plans with a fine-toothed comb now that we have a better idea of the language and exemptions that are buried within. Please pray for wisdom and discernment in this so we hopefully won't have this fight in future years.

Evie, Our Social Butterfly

Evie, you are such a social person, just like your daddy! Anywhere we go you find someone to say "Hiiii!!" to. It's pretty funny to see their varied responses. If it's a child, they sometimes respond with enthusiasm, but often they don't seem to know how to respond. And every now and then there's a crank who ignores you (and the mommy in me growls inside, although I know that not everyone is a kid person and some people have had a long, hard day and really don't want to interract with anyone...I get that). But the vast majority talk back and seem very pleased to have received your attention, and it makes me happy to see that you have brightened someone's day with your sweetness.

Here you are at a mall playground making friends with a couple of kiddos. In the second picture you are doing your signature yell, "Da! Da! Di! Da!" I have no idea what it means except "I'm happy! and Life is good!" or sometimes it means, "I've just been well-fed, and I like it!!!" You are so exuberant!! I love it! May you never lose that joyful spirit and zeal for life, my sweet one.

A Mommy's "Facebook" status

Here's a Facebook status, that I wouldn't actually post on FB (Nooooo, I post it on my blog where any ol' Random Joe or Josephine can read it--but hey, then I'm at least sort of anonymous).

So here it is: Jen...misses the days when I could have privacy in the bathroom.

Evie is pretty good about playing independently, but when I head to the bathroom, heaven forbid that I shut the door! She puts up such a fuss! Sigh...some day...

Funny Things Evie Does

Evie is such a hoot lately! Here are a few memorable moments/quirks at this stage:

I am lazily thinking about potty training. Evie shows some signs of readiness (very aware of pee/poop, has had some dry diapers after naps and even one time overnight, etc.), but whenever I ask if she wants to sit on her potty, the answer is always a resounding "No!" ??? Despite this:

--Evie LOVES having her diaper changed! First thing in the morning, she comes in, cuddles with Daddy, then shortly thereafter declares, "Dadda, poo-poo!" Which means, "Daddy, come change my diaper ("poo poo" in Evie language means either poo poo or diaper). Or when Daddy gets home she yells, "Dadda!" then immediately leaves whatever she's doing...and rushes into her daddy's arms? No! She rushes to her room yelling "Dadda, poo-poo!" so he can go change her diaper. She did this yesterday and I had changed her diaper not even 10 minutes prior. When he went in to change the diaper, it was clean. She does the same thing when Momo (grandmother) comes over. What the heck?! It's hilarious! I don't know what that means in regard to potty training (hopefully it doesn't mean our daughter will be in Kindergarten still perfectly content to have us change her diaper). Oh, and sometimes she'll say "poo poo" to me when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner or something and I will not get to her right away. She disappears and then I remember so I go to her room: There she is contentedly lying on the floor (where I change her nowadays so I don't have to lift her to the changing table). My poor child is just lying there waiting for her mommy to come change her (and for the record, half the time it's a false alarm and a clean diaper so you can see why I don't drop everything when she says "Poo poo!") Funny girl!!

--We made her a Froot Loops necklace today (I usually don't go for the sugary cereals but it was such a good deal that I couldn't resist) I let her eat some as we made it so she wouldnt' feel cheated. After we finished, I told her that we had already had plenty of the Froot Loops to eat and the necklace was too pretty to eat, but now and then I'd see her head bow slyly and sure enough there would be a gap in the necklace when her head came back up. I had to laugh as I watched her necklace shrink in size throughout the day.

--The poor girl has not been to the pool since we had swim lessons one (two?) weeks ago, so at the last minute we had a gap in our day and I decided to take her. Once she saw me blowing up her raft all I heard was, "Pool! Dee dee (Evie) pool! Dee dee pool, please! Pool--yeah! Yeah, yeah pool!" She may be a bit behind in her speech, but she can certainly get her point across!

--She is so fixated on buckles: in her carseat, the grocery cart, the stroller, her doll's stroller. Since she isn't one to try to stand up while in the cart, if I accidentally put her in a cart with a broken strap, I could get away with not bothering...except that she would have none of it!! She MUST be strapped in! Her baby doll MUST be strapped in! It's actually great, but I find it very funny.

--She and her daddy like to sing "Yeah, yeah!" songs...The yeah, yeah song is either "She Loves You" by the Beatles ("She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!") or "I Believe" by Wes King ("I believe, I believe...I believe in the word of God, yeah, yeah!")

Some sweet things:

--The whole cuddling with Daddy thing in the morning is just adorable!

--She rubs on us like she's giving us a massage.

--After we cuddle and then I (or Daddy) have to get back to whatever I was doing, she exclaims, "More Mama, please" or "More Dadda, please!" It is so adorable. What really gets me is when she cries when I put her down for a nap (as has been her custom more lately) and she really gets herself in a tizzy and I can hear her sobbing, "More Mama, please!!!!!" Oh, my heart! That's a hard one to resist but I try to stay strong.

--She says hi to "Baby Bruddah!!" or, more often she actually says, "Bruddah baby!" She also knows that "Soda" is baby brother, which I don't remember actually saying to her, but of course she hears Richard and I referring to him as Soda.

I know there are many other things I'm forgetting, so I will just have to add more later.

Miscellaneous

Some pictures just cry out to be posted, but are too random to be their own post, so here is a conglomeration of cute pics:

Trying out the hammock swing at Aunt Donna and Uncle Kevin's house:

Being all grown up with her cell phone and her hair-fixing accoutrements.

Being a messy bessy with her food (I can't remember what she was eating)...She also appears to have removed her bows and rubber bands from her hair!

Just being cute!

With Momo:

With Gigi:

Watching Daddy mow the lawn:

Father's Day

Evie LOVES her daddy! We had fun celebrating him on Father's Day. One thing we did was give him a Saturday where we stayed out of the way and let him work on projects all day (since usually his projects all get interrupted by his girls). We swapped with Christy and Sam so on Richard's Saturday, Sam came over and helped him work and on Sam's Saturday, Richard went and helped Sam. So, they got some projects worked on and had some male bonding time.

We got Richard a couple of gifts and Evie made him a tie, which he wore to church on Sunday. You have GOT to love a daddy who will do that...I didn't suggest he do this; he just got dressed for church and came out wearing the tie. That's just one of the million reasons why I love this awesome man! Evie was in awe...Let's face it, she probably didn't even know what she was making (especially since Hubs never wears ties!), so when she saw it on him she kept pointing at it and gasping (her way of expressing surprise--so cute!)

Also, since my hubby is a missionary kid who grew up in South America (Colombia and Venezuela), I fixed him a traditional South American meal. I LOVE South American food, so this was fun for me to have a go at making it myself. It was also fun to get to shop at the local Latin market and use my Spanish to ask about certain ingredients that I wasn't sure about.

We love you, Hubsley/Daddy!!!!!

Daddy and his girl--Doesn't she look proud?!

The menu: Salad, carne desmechada (sort of like brisket), arroz con frijoles colombianos (black beans and rice), arrepas (corn cakes--this was the one thing I was unhappy with in the meal; I think I got hold of a bad recipe.), pan de queso (cheese bread--this is actually a Brazillian thing, but we've had it at Brazillian Churrascaria places and loved it so when I saw a mix at the Latin market I had to get it), Maduros--platano frito (fried plantain), brevas con queso (figs with cheese--South American desserts tend to be understated).

The meal, shown with a Colombian flag. It is common to throw a fried egg on top and you'd be surprised at how much it adds to the flavor. Also, please note that the beverage, although it looks like beer, is non-alcoholic. It is a ginger beer and it is fabulous. At the local Colombian restaurant we go to it is called Pony Malta, and I think I like that version better, but this is all I could find at the market.

Here's the meal, part II because I actually forgot to cook up the plantain the first time, and I re-attempted the arrepas (still yucky, unfortunately). This time we added the Venezuelan flag in honor of the platano (I think?)

Brevas con queso--those little suckers took about 72 hours to make because you have to let them soak, then do another step and let them soak again, etc. They were worth it though, especially after seeing Hubs enjoy them so much.

Swimming Lessons I

We didn't put Evie in swim lessons last summer and since I plan to (hopefully!) be at the pool a lot this summer I thought it would be good to kick off with some lessons. We chose the less expensive recreation center route since these would mainly be lessons to expose her to the water, rather than full on lessons to teach her to swim. I think it was a good way to go.

Evie loves the pool and doesn't really mind getting water in her face. Often if she gets splashed she covers her face but then quickly asks for "More!!"

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Swimming Lessons II

I was a little concerned at first because Evie was having a terrible time going under the water without coming up sputtering. They told us to have them blow bubbles or hum so that they wouldn't breathe in. Although Evie did fine with these things outside the water, she and I couldn't seem to get our timing down and every time she would start to hum or blow bubbles, by the time I got her under she had stopped and would therefore swallow water. What ended up working for us was to forget about telling her to blow bubbles or hum. I just told her that I would say, "One-two-three, Under!" and that when I said "under" I would put her under. This worked like a charm. I don't know if she hummed under there or simply held her breath, but she only came up sputtering about 1 or 2 times after that. Whatever works, right?!

I find it funny that when she was about to go under, I would hold my breath as well (I didn't know I was doing it until I saw these photos).

Going under!!

Overall, I was really pleased with all that Evie learned and I was so impressed at what a trouper she was. Even with all the sputtering at the beginning she didn't start crying. She would sometimes say, "No bubbles!" (since that was what would precede her going under). but that was about it.

Whenever I tell Evie that something is over or she can't have something, she says, "Bye bye ____(whatever it is)___" So every day when the teacher would say it was time to go home and I told her we had to get out of the pool she had to say, "Bye bye, pool!!"

"Painting" the House and the Fence

One of the backyard activities that Evie enjoys doing is "painting" the house and fence. We fill her bucket with water, hand her a paintbrush and let her go to town. Of course, in our recent heat, the "paint" evaporates in about 2 seconds!

Our Growing Girl!

Oh, Evie, you are growing so much! You no longer look like a baby; you are our little girl! We have been so pleased with all the progress you are making! You are so much more confident in your walking and are even moving toward trying to run. We have changed your therapy from ECI to private therapy and have been SO pleased! Right now you are working on stepping over objects, stepping up and down a single step left foot first, using rails on a staircase, kicking a ball, throwing a ball, and more. It is wonderful to see you working on obvious skills at every session, and the goals this center has laid out for you are so specific--I love it!!

***As a side note, please pray that insurance will pay for this therapy since at this point they are only allowing us to have 60 sessions for the year (of which we've used quite a few already!). We are trusting that God will work this out as we go through the appeal process with insurance. I have been on the phone with them a lot lately and I think we have found a supervisor who will help us. So far she has been wonderful! It turns out that the insurance company had no record of Evie's stroke so in their eyes, there was no reason for her to have OT, PT, or Speech. (How they could not have been aware of this after the MRI, visits to practically every doctor known to man as well as regular visits to a developmental pediatrician, I have no idea! What did they think they were paying for?!) Now records have been faxed over from her developmental pediatrician and the appeal process has begun. I believe the Lord has been at work in this and am confident that things will work our for her to get all the therapy she needs, but it is a little scary because if this doesn't work out then the cost PER SESSION (and she will probably need 5-6 sessions a week) would be $90!!! We certainly can't pay $450+ a week for therapy!! But I would be so sad to have to leave her current spot because it has proven to be a TON better than ECI was and other private therapy spots that I checked out weren't in network at all, so they would be even more costly. We appreciate your prayers for this to all get worked out in our favor, but above all, that God's will would be done and that He would be glorified.

Here are some shots of our BIG girl:

Oh, how I love your laugh, sweet girl!!