Fitting In

It is hard to remember when Iris wasn't part of the family. It seems like she has always been here.

She will not let the older kids out do her on anything.

If they are riding scooters, then by golly so is she.

She doesn't let a little thing like a bump on the head slow her down

Elliot's First Day of Pre-K

I am very late at getting this posted, but here it is. Elliot's first day of Pre-K. We had NO crying and clinging to my legs like last year. I guess my boy is finally ready for school.

I was sure I had ruined it for good last week when I was knee deep in paper work for Iris and the phone rang. It was Elliot's school. I asked "Is Elliot sick?" her reply was "No, but he is still here!" I looked at the clock and I was 20 minutes late picking him up. Needless to say I felt like a very bad mother the rest of the day. Once we got to school he was in the office showing off his silly banz. I was very relieved when I asked him if he was scared and he said "No, I knew you were coming." Such a sweet little soul. Last year that little slip up would have cost us dearly.

What Are The Next Steps

The Chambers family is doing well but things seem very busy (typcial for this time of year).  Iris is adjusting more each day along with Ansley and Elliot.  They all seem to be falling into their places in the family and life is getting back to normal.

Yesterday we visited CCVI (school for visually impaired children) and they are great.  Melissa and I had visited this facilty several months ago when we knew Iris would be joining our family.  CCVI evaluauted Iris to determine what she can see.  Up til now the doctors have only told us she has limited vision but they expect improvement.  CCVI evaluated her based on colors, shapes, light, and other variables.  They spent one hour with three people evlauating her and their evaluating is based on what she can see currently.

It was great to visit with CCVI as they focus on vision and how to prepare young children to survive with a visual impairment.  However, it was "humbling" to hear them tell us she is severly impaired.  Until now I knew she had limited vision but it hit home with CCVI telling us this.  Until now I focused more on the chance of improvement rather than what she needs now which is time spent with professionals teaching her.

CCVI provided us with a lot of things to think about (that we had not thought of).  Will she need a cane so others know she is impaired?  Teach her ways to be safe when she is in unfamiliar areas.  So many things we have not thought of and I am sure over the next several years our family will encounter new things daily.

The county we live in contracts through CCVI so we will have someone visit our home and work with Iris one-on-one.  This will start very soon and they will provide this service until she turns three.  Once she turns three the county turns her over to the school district.  The school district we are in is one of the only dstricts in the Kansas City area that does not contract to CCVI.  They have contracted to them a few times in the past for certain kids but it is rare. 

We will meet with the school district and have her evaluated and see what they will offer.  Our hope is that we can get them to contract with CCVI for Iris.  Based on what we know it seems like the district will not be able to provide the best environment for Iris.  We will talk to the district with an open mind and see what their plan is.  If they will not contract to CCVI and we feel she needs to be at CCVI then we will find a way to send her there and pay for it.

Whats Going On with You?

I get that question a lot these days. So here is a sample of what we have been doing.

visiting with family (Elliot is getting ready to go to a swiming party)

Yes, I know I have a lot of trouble keeping my eyes open.

playing T-ball with our best friend

swinging and bonding with our siblings

Starting 3rd grade

Our fabulous teacher

patching eyes and trying to figure out what she can see.

It does seem to be getting a little better each day.

wrangling a pack of short hair wild cats kids. Why is it they will never cooperate for a picture?

So that and laundry. But who cares about laundry.

Seeing the World Through New Eyes

Iris got her patch off today and she couldn't be happier.  At first she just stopped and looked at my face like it was the first time she was seeing it (maybe it was).  She was in shock for a little while.  She just stood there and laughed and laughed.  After dancing around the doctors office looking at everything she had to get drops in her eyes and then put the patch back on.  She was not happy with that in the least. 
Iris has an appointment next week to check the eyes again and maybe start patching the good eye to help strengthen the weak eye or possibly glasses.  So we will see.  All in all she is doing extremely well.

Added humor from last night, Iris received a new eye patch to wear home and to wear at night to help protect the eye.  This new patch is metal with a cloth attached around the outside.  The patch has many little holes in it (as seen in the above photo).  As we prepared Iris for bed we put the patch on her eye.  Elliot saw this new patch on Iris for the first time and asked, "why does Iris have to wear a speaker on her eye?"

Another Day, Another Surgery

Iris had her second eye surgery this morning and did really well all things considered.   They didn't take her back for surgery until 10am so she was not happy about having nothing to eat. 

She doesn't like having the patch on her "good" eye so she tries to pull it off a lot.  It is really sad to watch her walk around.  She walks with her little hand out in front of her and steps very cautiously with her foot.  Iris is anything but cautious!

After sleeping it off she is back to her old happy self.   Enjoy this video, see how Iris bounces back.  

Iris is scheduled to have this patch removed tomorrow morning.  We are hoping for great improvement in her "good" eye when the patch is removed.  The other eye is very limited and we pray for improvement in the coming days and weeks.  The doctor will start a "patching" routine to force Iris to use this eye.  Iris is an amazing little girl  and we are so happy that God placed her in our family.

Where did she go

Where did my sweet little baby go?  Why do they have to grow up so fast?  I know, I know, it's not like I didn't know this would happen.

  Yes, that is Ansley putting on makeup!  Who said she could grow up so fast?  The funny thing is she still needs a step stool to reach the sink.  God love her.  She puts together some pretty outrages outfits.  She has on her boots with shorts, go figure
And here is the final  product.

Beautiful.