Our trip to Little Rock this week was a huge success! It started with Will's psychoeducational testing. The results weren't surprising, but it just made it so real to actually hear the results. Sometimes it seems like he really is that "intelectually disabled (the new term for mentally retarded)," but sometimes he seems so much smarter than that. I guess the good thing about the results is that he should get more help at school that way. We then tried to find houses to look at. We weren't having much luck with getting people to call us back. We finally looked at one, and it was a "maybe" but we wanted to keep looking. No one would call us back. We were getting kind of sad and thought we might go home without a house. There was a man who I had called before we left Tulsa, but he was having an open house the weekend before we were to arrive, so he didn't think it would still be available. Then, I called him again on Monday morning to see if he had rented the house. He said he thought he had a renter, but the man had to talk to his wife. He would call me Tuesday if they didn't take the house, but he was sure they would. We looked at two houses on Tueday that were just too small. Another lady was supposed to call us but never did. Then the man called us and said the renters had backed out and we could look at the house. We were so excited! It just seemed like God had worked it out for us to see this house. It could have been rented several times before but it wasn't! We got there, and the neighborhood seemed nice. The house had good curb appeal, and even had a two car garage! (Now my car doesn't have to sit out in the driveway!) Inside were two living areas, a dining room, a kitchen, three bedrooms, and two full bathrooms. The laundry hook-ups were inside (our's right now are in the garage). It needs a face lift, but it seemed perfect for us. It's about the same size we have now. The back yard is much better for playing than the one we have now. The man didn't want to have any pets in the home. He also wanted to rent it as quickly as possible, and we aren't moving until June. Well, my sweet Daddy talked with him, and Tuesday night at 8:30 I got a phone call that the house was ours!!! The elementary school we're zoned for is top three in the city and has a good special education program for Will. The crazy thing is that we are one street from being in a different town where we would be zoned for county schools (which aren't good). God was looking out for us for sure and provided this great house. We also have been connected with an amazing church in North Little Rock. It's very big (three services each Sunday with about 1200-1500 people at each service), but because it is so big, they offer a lot of great things that are good for a young family. Their children's pastor is well-known across Assemblies of God churches and even writes curriculum that is taught all over the country. They have a preschool that Cate can go to. And, I saved the best thing for last...they have a ministry within their children's ministry just for special needs kids! It's called COOL Kids, and Will loved the room. While we are very sad to leave Tulsa and our friends and family and The Little Light House and Woodlake Church, it really seems as though God has gone before us to Little Rock and paved the way for our move. He has been in every step of this process and provided every need. As I learned this weekend at the Woodlake Women's retreat, when you "let go and let God" things work out for you (even though it may take a lot longer than you want).
Long time no see
Well, I officially suck at blogging. I have no time, and when I do have time, I don't feel like spending it online. I don't know how many people actually read this, so I'm not sure how many of you I may have disappointed...so, please forgive my forgetfulness and enjoy this update on the Saunders family.
Will recently returned to Little Rock for a repeat MRI of his spine to see if the cyst on his spinal cord had grown. We got a great report that it hadn't changed at all. In fact, the neuroradiologist who read the MRI said it may not even be a cyst but a natural widening of his spinal cord at that area. That would be awesome! His neurosurgeon seemed pleased and said we could wait a whole year before we repeat the MRI. Hooray! Will was also tested at school for his exit examination, and his cognitive function is at 24 months. (He is 66 months old.) He goes back to Little Rock on Monday for formal cognitive testing. We recently changed up some of his medications in hopes of improving his aggression, and it seems to be helping some. We are still having a fair amount of hair pulling at home, which isn't much fun, so please pray that he continues to "chill out!"
Cate is doing well. Her speech is totally normal as far as number of words and sentences. She is even speaking in full sentences at school now! Hooray again! We're still working on more words at church, but she's really coming along. She is still totally into Minnie Mouse and is starting to really like the Disney Princesses too. She wants a Minnie birthday, so that's what she'll have. I just cannot believe that she will be three next month. I don't know where the time has gone.
We are going to Little Rock on Sunday afternoon for spring break. I know what you're thinking...woohoo, party! Well, as I said before, Will is getting tested on Monday morning. And, we hope to look at some houses and visit with some of the special education people at the schools. I'm also going to take the family to see the church we plan on attending, First Assembly of God North Little Rock. Will and I visited it in February, and it's amazing. The people are so friendly and willing to help. Their kids ministry is wonderful and even has a ministry just for special needs kids. I have heard great things about their children's pastor too. I can't wait to get involved there, but I am going to miss Woodlake terribly. It has been our home for the past six and a half years, and the people there are our family.
Anyway, as always, I have prayer requests. First, please pray that we are able to find some good houses to look at and that we find one that meets our needs and is in our budget. Next, pray that Will's testing goes well and that the results are helpful to us. Pray that we have good meetings with the school people and that we're able to get the ball rolling soon on his IEP. Pray for safety in our travel, and for safety for my parents as they drive out to meet us. Pray for provision for the medical bills we're accumulating because our insurance isn't paying for his visits to Little Rock anymore. I guess that's it. That's enough to pray for.
Thank you all for being who you are and for being part of our lives. We love each of you with all of our hearts, and our lives wouldn't be the same without you.
Will recently returned to Little Rock for a repeat MRI of his spine to see if the cyst on his spinal cord had grown. We got a great report that it hadn't changed at all. In fact, the neuroradiologist who read the MRI said it may not even be a cyst but a natural widening of his spinal cord at that area. That would be awesome! His neurosurgeon seemed pleased and said we could wait a whole year before we repeat the MRI. Hooray! Will was also tested at school for his exit examination, and his cognitive function is at 24 months. (He is 66 months old.) He goes back to Little Rock on Monday for formal cognitive testing. We recently changed up some of his medications in hopes of improving his aggression, and it seems to be helping some. We are still having a fair amount of hair pulling at home, which isn't much fun, so please pray that he continues to "chill out!"
Cate is doing well. Her speech is totally normal as far as number of words and sentences. She is even speaking in full sentences at school now! Hooray again! We're still working on more words at church, but she's really coming along. She is still totally into Minnie Mouse and is starting to really like the Disney Princesses too. She wants a Minnie birthday, so that's what she'll have. I just cannot believe that she will be three next month. I don't know where the time has gone.
We are going to Little Rock on Sunday afternoon for spring break. I know what you're thinking...woohoo, party! Well, as I said before, Will is getting tested on Monday morning. And, we hope to look at some houses and visit with some of the special education people at the schools. I'm also going to take the family to see the church we plan on attending, First Assembly of God North Little Rock. Will and I visited it in February, and it's amazing. The people are so friendly and willing to help. Their kids ministry is wonderful and even has a ministry just for special needs kids. I have heard great things about their children's pastor too. I can't wait to get involved there, but I am going to miss Woodlake terribly. It has been our home for the past six and a half years, and the people there are our family.
Anyway, as always, I have prayer requests. First, please pray that we are able to find some good houses to look at and that we find one that meets our needs and is in our budget. Next, pray that Will's testing goes well and that the results are helpful to us. Pray that we have good meetings with the school people and that we're able to get the ball rolling soon on his IEP. Pray for safety in our travel, and for safety for my parents as they drive out to meet us. Pray for provision for the medical bills we're accumulating because our insurance isn't paying for his visits to Little Rock anymore. I guess that's it. That's enough to pray for.
Thank you all for being who you are and for being part of our lives. We love each of you with all of our hearts, and our lives wouldn't be the same without you.
Only 5 more months...
Well, Christmas has come and gone. We had a pretty good day. Will was sick with a tummy bug on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then Cate started throwing up on Christmas Eve. Jeremiah got sick early on Christmas morning, and I was nauseated all day on the 26th. I was also on call the 21, 23, 25, and 27. We managed to survive the blizzard and the tummy bug and salvage a nice evening of opening presents with the kids. We did not, however, get to eat our Christmas dinner.
It's hard to believe that the new year is here and that in only 5 months, we will be moving to Little Rock. It seems like each year time moves faster and faster. Will and Cate are in their final semesters at their schools, and graduation is quickly approaching. Will graduates from The Little Light House on May 20, and I have residency graduation on May 22. I also take my general pediatrics board exam on May 15. There just seems to be so much stuff coming up that it's a little overwhelming. We're looking for a house but haven't had much success. We thought we'd found the perfect house, but we finally decided it was too good to be true. It's a good thing because I'm 99% sure it was a scam. I know God has always put us exactly where we are supposed to be, and I just need to "let go and let God." My new daily devotional book had a statement in it that I'm trying to make my new motto, because as most of you know, I'm very much a planner and don't like it when I can't control things. The statement is, "You will find great joy when you realize that God's agenda is greater than your own."
So, in the next five months, I am believing in the Lord that He will provide a house for us, a school for Will, a preschool for Cate, and a church for our family. Feel free to lift all of these things up in prayer the next time you go to the Father.
It's hard to believe that the new year is here and that in only 5 months, we will be moving to Little Rock. It seems like each year time moves faster and faster. Will and Cate are in their final semesters at their schools, and graduation is quickly approaching. Will graduates from The Little Light House on May 20, and I have residency graduation on May 22. I also take my general pediatrics board exam on May 15. There just seems to be so much stuff coming up that it's a little overwhelming. We're looking for a house but haven't had much success. We thought we'd found the perfect house, but we finally decided it was too good to be true. It's a good thing because I'm 99% sure it was a scam. I know God has always put us exactly where we are supposed to be, and I just need to "let go and let God." My new daily devotional book had a statement in it that I'm trying to make my new motto, because as most of you know, I'm very much a planner and don't like it when I can't control things. The statement is, "You will find great joy when you realize that God's agenda is greater than your own."
So, in the next five months, I am believing in the Lord that He will provide a house for us, a school for Will, a preschool for Cate, and a church for our family. Feel free to lift all of these things up in prayer the next time you go to the Father.
It's almost here!
Well, it's almost here...Christmas, that is. I am excited about Christmas, mainly to see how our kids (and Jeremiah) respond to the mountain of gifts under our tree. Cate knows who Santa is (sort of) now and enjoys looking at the tree and the lights outside. I'm not sure if Will knows what's going on, but he will have a blast opening all his gifts and then playing with the paper and boxes. I'm not excited that I have to work on Christmas. It is supposed to be out-of-house call, meaning that I go in, see the patients, and go home on my pager. However, my out-of-house call shift yesterday was anything but at home. Luckily, the clinic isn't open on Christmas, and most people try not to come to the ER on Christmas unless they're super sick. We're having lunch at home. We were invited to one of my boss' house, which is super sweet of her, but being on call and traveling too far from home makes me nervous. Anyway, I'm very proud of myself because I purchased all the food for our Christmas feast for the low low price of $37! Woohoo! I've learned to shop very thriftily (if that's a word) and use coupons, price matching, etc. to save some pretty decent money. I'm very sad that we won't be able to spend the day with our family. We'll be thinking of them all day and probably talk to them on the phone several times during the day. I'm praying for a day of excitement in the morning with presents, then a quick time of rounding at the hospital, yummy lunch, and quiet evening at home. Anyone who wants to pray for the same thing certainly can. I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas, get everything you put on your list, get to spend lots of time with the people you love, and spend a few moments reflecting on the true meaning of the day. We love you, and Merry Christmas! ~ The Saunders Family
Video of Cate Singing
Enjoy this video of Cate singing some songs she learned at school. I couldn't get them to upload to Facebook.
Thanksgiving 2009 - Part 1
We made it to Montgomery yesterday to spend Thanksgiving with our families. The trip was pretty uneventful. Before we left Tulsa on Saturday, we took the kids to Sears to have their picture made with Santa Claus. Cate freaked out. She cried and cried, and we didn't get any pictures. She wouldn't take pictures with Santa, without Santa, in the other room with the festive background...she wasn't having it. So, after waisting basically an entire day in Tulsa (we could have left Friday afternoon if we hadn't stayed for the pictures), we hit the road. While we were driving, I got a phone call from my wonderful friend who was watching Baxter, our dog, on Saturday. She went to let him out, and he jumped the fence. She looked everywhere but wasn't able to find him. We made it into town on Sunday afternoon, and Will and Cate were very glad to see Gran and Papa. We got to visit with my brother and sister and have a great dinner together. My sweet friend has visited with our neighbors, driven around our neighborhood, etc. in an effort to find Baxter. Unfortunately, we still haven't had any contacts or news about him. We did put out a Home Again alert (the microchip thing), called our vet, and notified the local animal shelter. My friend is going by the shelter tomorrow to see if they have him. Cate is getting her hair cut tomorrow. It will only be her third hair cut ever. She is getting "a big girl bob." I'm really excited because I know how cute she's going to look. Then it's off to church for the traditional EHBC Thanksgiving dinner cooked by the one and only Al Steineker. After church I get to visit with my best friend Melanie and her husband. It's going to be a very busy week, but it will be a lot of fun. I'm excited that we're going to get to be together with all our families on Thanksgiving day. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your families and friends and that God blesses you with many things to be thankful for.
